The Role of the Expert in Holistic Approach to ICH: Case Study in the Community of “Sites Remarquables du Goût (Outstanding Sites of Taste)” in France

Abstract

A holistic approach to ICH is particularly visible in the work conducted with the “Fédération Nationale des Sites Remarquables du Goût (https://www.sites-remarquables-du-gout.fr/)” to be included into the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage National Inventory. About twenty registered practices and research work conducted by the expert appointed by the committee, show the indissociable link between agricultural production, landscapes and know-how pertaining to the work carried on by the farming communities, tangible, and intangible cultural heritage. The recording of these skills stresses the point that they altogether belong to the local culture and history. We have sampled three sites within this research work; “Fishing of freshwater fish in the Dombes ponds”, “Elaboration of Armagnac brandy”, livestock breeding and “Salers cheese making”, more than just practice, these are acknowledged processing, territories, architectures, types of food, ways of life and sustainable development respect, all of them fully decoded within the tangible and intangible dimension.